Everlasting
by Ke
Summary: [COMPLETE] One kidnap, one curse, one everlasting romance... Sequel to Always.
1. Chapter 1: Birthday and Nemesis

KudoEdogawa presents...

A KudoEdogawa production...

A Detective Conan fanfiction...

The sequel to ""Always""

""Everlasting""

===Note: This is a sequel, you might not understand parts of the story if you did not read my other fic "Always"===

_Kyou wa donna koto ga attano?  
_What has happened today?_  
Asu mo buji ni owaru youni  
_Seems like tomorrow will also be uneventful_  
  
Kimi ni deaetta sono toki kara  
_From the moment that I met you_  
Ichibyou zutsu wa totemo daiji nanda  
_Every moment of my life is valuable_  
Itsumademo togirenu omoi  
_Forever, an everlasting love_  
  
Kimi no nukumori oboeteru yo  
_I'm remembering your warmth_  
Sono massugu na koe mo hibitteru yo  
_And that eager voice echoing_  
Itsumademo togirenu omoi  
_Forever, an everlasting love_  
  
Kimi ga doko ka de miteirunda to  
_Thinking that not matter where you're watching over me_  
Omoi nagara zutto ikite ikeruyo  
_This thought has kept me going_  
Itsumademo togirenu omoi  
_Forever, an everlasting love_  
Dokomade mo taenai omoi...  
_Everlasting, a love that never ceases

~B'z "Everlasting" (Note: The translations were not done by me, and I do not know how accurate they are. If you know a more accurate translation, feel free to let me know).

~C h a p t e r 1~

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Hiro-chan, happy birthday to you!" The merry chorus echoed in the detective agency.

The black haired toddler stood excitedly on the sofa as he blew out the candles. The people surrounding him clapped and cheered, they were supposed to, for today was Kudo Hiroichi's fifth birthday. With crystal-blue eyes like his father and the equally soft and silky hair, Hiroichi looked just like a smaller Shinichi, a smaller Conan. Shinichi smiled as his son tore open Ayumi's small pink-and-white package which revealed Conan's old Detective Boys badge; upon seeing the badge, Hiroichi screamed and hugged his Ayumi-neechan. Shinichi chuckled softly.

It has been five years since the arrest of Kageoni Hoyami, the mass murderer who once tried to murder Shinichi when he was suffering from amnesia, but Ran has taken the hit for Shinichi and brought back his memories, and at the same time, bringing them closer together. Much has happened during these past five years, Mouri Kogoro died the previous from excess smoking and drinking and the agency was shut down. However, Shinichi established his own agency inside his own house and became just as famous as Kogoro. People often say that Shinichi is an apprentice of Kogoro, he ignored those comments and neither denied it nor confirmed it to the public.

After giving birth to Hiroichi, Ran has opened her own martial arts class in what used to be the agency. Makoto, now married with Sonoko and the world karate champion, was the main instructor of the class. Sonoko didn't sit around doing nothing either, she started her own fashion brand and her picture and her designs may be seen on magazines, in malls, and in fashion salons big and small. When she's not working her butt off on the latest fashion, she goes to Ran's class to help take care of Hiroichi, so that Ran can do a bit of teaching herself.

Heiji and Kazuha got married two years after Shinichi and Ran and has a three-year old daughter named Kaze. Heiji has taken over his father's job as an officer and is also a famous detective, second best to his best friend and rival, Shinichi. Kazuha has taken on writing; she is now the most famous mystery novelist in Japan, modeling her stories after the adventures of Shinichi and Heiji. Heiji often called Shinichi to ask about certain details about a certain case, so often, in fact, that Shinichi sent Kazuha of a copy of Kogoro's old files.

Eri retired from being a lawyer, but her new job still revolved around law; for she's teaching law at Tokyo University. Yusaku has also stopped his writing career and has been traveling and living in different parts of the world with Yukiko for the past many years. As for Agasa Hakase, he's been living very well for an eighty-seven year old man. He sometimes helps Shinichi look up data on old criminal records, and besides that, he's been very inactive in Shinichi's jobs.

Genta, Mitsuhiko, and Ayumi are officially in high school as of this year. They have established the first detective club in Tantei High. They, along with a new student--Ai*, help out as Shinichi assistants when they don't have school. Either that, or they baby-sit Hiroichi when Ran needs them to. Genta has thinned considerably, if you hold a picture of him in elementary to a stranger, they would never believe that that was once Genta. Mitsuhiko and Ayumi are a couple now and their relationship has been growing steadily over the past few years, seeing them like this reminds Shinichi and Ran constantly of themselves.

Hiroichi picked up a last package, thin and small, wrapped in blue-and-red wrapping paper. He shook the box excitedly to see if he could hear anything--nothing. He shrugged and ripped opened the paper and tore the lid off the paper box behind the wrapping. Concealed within the box was a small, but extremely delicate picture frame, and within the frame was a picture of Shinichi and Ran during their sweet high school relationship.

"Is this mommy and daddy?" Hiroichi asked innocently.

"Yup," Shinichi replied. "This was your mommy and I when we were Ayumi-neechan and Mitsuhiko-niichan's age."

Hiroichi looked at the small picture in front of him; it was a toy or candy or anything that a five-year-old would like, but somehow it feels magical to young Hiroichi, and he cherished it like he would to a long-lost treasure that has just been found. "You guys must be the handsomest and prettiest in the school." He said, followed by a yawn.

Eri hugged her grandson and picked him up from the sofa. "Of course they were, my dear. And someday, you will be too." Eri flicked his nose softly with her finger and began swaying the child slowly in her arms.

"Cool..." Hiroichi said softly as he drifted off to sleep.

Shinichi looked at his watch: eleven o'clock, about bedtime. "Alright," he said. "That's the end of the party, off to bed, and you four," he said to the Detective Boys, "still has school tomorrow. Better catch some sleep."

"Can we have a sleepover, Conan?" Ayumi asked. Though Shinichi has turned back for a while, she's made it a habit to call Shinichi by the name of Conan.

"Please, Shinichi-niichan?" Mitsuhiko added.

"Nope, you all still have school tomorrow!" Shinichi said sternly, hoping that would be the end of the night. But it wasn't as he wished, the detective boys grinned mischievously and went into Shinichi's studies, reappearing a moment later with their backpacks in their hands.

"You seemed to have forgotten that we came here right after school," Genta said proudly.

Shinichi scratched his head helplessly and sighed. "I still couldn't handle them..., even as an adult." He muttered to himself before disappearing into his room.

Ran came out from Hiroichi's room, carrying four sleeping bags and the detective boys, like little elementary students would, dashed for their soft and fluffy temporary beds. She then walked her mother to the door and gave her a hug; Eri smiled. It seems she has lost none of her superiority as a lawyer, her hair has not even begin to show the slightest sign of age. Ran reentered the living room a while after to find the Detective Boys still chattering on.

"That is it." Ran said. "It's sleep time for you guys or there won't be another sleepover!"

"Hai~!!" The teens chorused as Ran turned off the lights.

~*~

Shinichi returned home late from the police department that night, to find the detective boys there again. Since the next day is a Saturday, Ran has granted them a second night of sleepover. Shinichi slouched on the couch, watching Mitsuhiko and Genta fight over the control of the remote. The channels switched from this to that as the remote was snatched out of their hands by the other.

Ran stepped out of the kitchen to greet her husband, "Hard day at work?"

Shinichi sighed. "Crime rates are increasing again," he said tiredly, "higher than ever in the past seven years."

"Why the sudden change?" Ayumi asked half-way reading her newspaper.

"I have no idea..." Shinichi replied and watched the on-going struggle between the two teenage boys.

Although each channel was only displayed for a short while, Shinichi still managed to catch glimpses of each channel. The latest music video of Arashi, a report on a case that the "legendary Mouri Kogoro" solved years back, entertainment news and a report on the reappearance of a famous American actress, the eight o'clock drama, a British movie about a ring on HBO...

Shinichi was jerked awake from his tiredness. "Switch back to that channel!" He yelled at the boys.

"What, the drama?" Genta asked.

"Or Mouri-san's case?" Mitsuhiko said.

"No, the entertainment news!" Shinichi yelled, unable to control himself.

Slightly frightened at Shinichi's sudden change of attitude, the boys did so. The news seems to be reporting at a certain movie premiere, which seemed normal enough, and the detective boys couldn't figure what wrong with it, but Ran let out a terrified gasp.

On the bottom of the screen, as the headline for the report, were stated the words, "America's famous Chris Saintemillion returns to Hollywood after eight years of mysterious absence."

~T o B e C o n t i n u e d~

*Note on "Ai"- I just thought that the Detective Boys wouldn't be complete without Ai, so I added her. There may be a possible appearance of Shiho in this story, so just think of "Shiho" as Shiho from Always, and "Ai" as the Ai we know from the manga...just without the whole APTX4869 and Organization involvement and stuff.

That was all for the first chapter, reviews are welcome, I hope this would be just as good, if not better, than Always.

Also, I have started my first original fiction and posted it on Fictionpress.com, please support me! Go to "www . fictionpress . com/~xxhiroxx" (take out the quotes and spaces) to find the link to my first original fiction, "Connected by Stars"


	2. Chapter 2: Return to London

KudoEdogawa presents...

""Everlasting""

(A/N: The characters and settings of this story will be in accordance with events after Volume 42. More changes on Ai/Sherry: Sherry in this fic will be referring to the Sherry in "Always," while Ai will still be Ai who refused take the antidote.)

***

Chapter 2::

"America's famous Chris Vineyard returns to Hollywood after eight years of mysterious absence."

"Oh goodness...," Ran whispered and clasped her hands to her mouth.

"It's impossible..., she committed suicide when the Organization was destroyed!" Shinichi shouted at the television.

"Knowing her..., it is possible..." Ai said quietly next to them, a feeling of fear overcoming her. "And I thought at last I'd be free from all this madness."

The report shifted to a movie premiere, Shinichi sat on the sofa, still shocked. A tense feeling of dread looms over the living room. Mitsuhiko and Genta looked at each other awkwardly and decided that it was for the best to turn off the TV and call it a night. A shrill ringing broke the silence, bringing Shinichi back to reality. He picked up his ringing cell phone; there was no caller ID. Shinichi stared blankly at the cell phone for a while, hesitating, and then at last pressed the talk button.

"Moshi, moshi?" Shinichi said in a deep, stern voice.

"Hello," came a seductive voice of a woman, "...Cool Kid. I believe you've seen the news by now?"

_Vermouth!_ Shinichi thought as his expression tensed with shock and anger. Wait..., did she just call him "Cool kid"?

Shinichi calmed and smiled, at last letting out a chuckle, confusing Ran and the Detective Boys. "You had me scared there for a while," Shinichi replied, "Miss Jodie."

"Oh, how very clever of you, tantei-san!" Came Jodie's ever so cheery voice. "I thought for sure that I could trick you, seems like I still have to work on it."

"Vermouth would've called me 'Cool guy,' you knew that, didn't you?"

"Oh, yes! But staying on topic: you _have_ seen the news right?" Jodie questioned.

"Yeah, saw it a while ago. I thought she died though." Shinichi said sternly.

"Oh that woman, she won't die that easily. She has achieved to not age, I wouldn't be so surprised to see her pull off some stunt that made it seen like she died. But this is good, too, I still haven't repaid her for what she did to my family." 

"So what do we do now?" Shinichi asked.

"Meet her." Said Jodie.

"Meet...what?!"

"Meet her," Jodie repeated. "A couple of days ago James was injured, we believe that it was Vermouth's work. We received a letter a few days later, warning us that it's just the start. The letter says to go to London, so Shuichi and I decided it would be the best to contact you to let you know that we're on our way to Beika."

"Beika?!" Shinichi exclaimed. "This has gone a bit far, Miss Jodie. I have a family now, and besides, isn't the FBI responsible for the Organization?"

"Yes," Jodie replied. "But although the letter was sent to me, it was addressed to the 'highly honored Kudo Shinichi and Hattori Heiji.'"

Shinichi's expression tensed. Ran stood worriedly next to him, hearing him grunt and nod. At last Shinichi said, "I understand, I'll contact Hattori right away." And they hung up.

"What did Miss Jodie want?" Ran asked

"She received a letter from Vermouth, but it was addressed to me and Hattori. She wants us to go to London, Miss Jodie and Shuichi are coming to Beika to meet us, and apparently their London correspondents have not any contacts with the main base for the past half year, which was when Chris Vineyard began filming her new movie."

Shinichi got up from his seat and proceeded to his second-floor office, "Honey, pack some things for me." He said to Ran before shutting the door and engaging in plans and discussions with Heiji.

~*~

"So do you think you could pick us up?" Shinichi said. Jodie, Shuichi, and Heiji were standing next to him, ready to board the plane. "But it might be dangerous. Uh-huh, yeah, okay. Thanks, we'll see you then."

Shinichi turned to his partners, "Yeah, we'll have a ride once we get there."

"Who?" Heiji asked

"You'll see in a while, I'm sure she'll be glad to see you again." Shinichi said and smiled. "C'mon, let's go." And he headed for the gate with Jodie and Shuichi, leaving Heiji in his thoughts.

"She? Again? ...It won't be _her_ would it?" Heiji looked up to see his friends walking through the gate. "Hey, wait up!"

~*~

Shinichi stepped out of the air conditioned lobby, carrying his bag, and greeted the city of London. Five years ago he was here and a car accident influenced his life, bringing him and Ran closer to each other. Five years later he came back, and possibly risking his life.

Jodie squealed excitedly behind him. "Wow, I've never been on a mission to London! It's so exciting!"

"Shut up," Shuichi said coldly. "Unless you want to let everyone in the airport know that we're here on international business concerning the greatest crime organization in the world."

"Fine, make me feel bad," Jodie pouted.

Heiji was the last to exit the airport, not feeling particularly glad. "Oy, Kudo..."

"Yeah?" Shinichi turned around to find Heiji staring at him.

"Why did you contact her?" He pointed next to him, blond hair with slight red dye, smiling cheerfully--Shiho.

"Well, we needed some form of transportation, and Shiho knows the place rather well, so..." Shinichi said matter-of-factly.

"Hey, come on, we haven't the time to stand around and chit chat." Shuichi said and approached Shiho and handed her a piece of paper. "We need to get to this place, do you know the way?"

Shiho looked at the note handed to her and broke into a smile. "Of course! Every British knows this place! Just follow me!"

"Get moving, then," Shuichi said, turning away, "We haven't got all day." And he proceeded towards the parking lot.]

"What's his problem?" Shiho asked angrily.

"Don't mind him," said Shinichi, "You just remind him of someone..., even your name, it's exactly the same."

"Must be his ex," Shiho said and followed after Shuichi to the parking lot.

"How did she ever guess?" Jodie mused behind her. Shinichi shrugged. Heiji stared at Shinichi, still waiting for an explanation, but was instead returned with a "let's go."

~*~

"...And lady and gentlemen, we have the most romantic street to your left. It is filled with various Italian and French parlors and cafes, and the plaza has also a lot of local merchants and you can buy things for a price cheaper than usual." Shiho was explaining to her guests in a tour guide-like manner, taking the time while waiting for the traffic light to change.

"That's enough, if I ever want a tour, I'll ask for it." Shuichi said coolly.

Shinichi stared out the window, as noon approaches, the plaza is becoming more and more lively. He scanned the merchants sitting under the trees, selling their products. There was an old man selling jewelries, he looked familiar. The man turned his head and saw Shinichi; he smiled and waved to him like an old friend would. Shinichi raised an eyebrow. The traffic light changed and the car proceeded forward.

At last the car stopped in front of a magnificent cathedral and Shiho stepped out of the car. "That's it!" She declared. "This is the place!"

"Seems pretty peaceful to me," Heiji said as he stretched.

Shinichi and Shuichi were scanning the environment. "Jodie, does the letter specify a time?" Shuichi asked and Shinichi walked up the stony steps to the door of the cathedral.

"No it doesn't," Jodie replied, "but let's be on our guard."

"There would be no such need," came Shinichi's voice from the door of the cathedral. "Come look at this!" The others approached the door and he pointed at a small carving in English:

_A baker shouldn't leave his shop. V_

"A baker shouldn't leave his shop?" Jodie repeated.

"We've been tricked." Shuichi said. Jodie looked at him.

"She sent you that letter to get us away from Japan. A baker shouldn't leave his shop..., if we're the bakers then Japan is the shop." Heiji explained.

"She's planning something, she even specified where." Shinichi said.

The other four looked at him.

"Baker." Shinichi said.

"What about it?" Shiho asked.

"How would you write it in katakana?" Shinichi said.

Heiji thought and muttered, "Be... i... ka...... Beika!" He exclaimed.

"Vermouth is after me..., we'd better get moving." Shinichi said.

"I'm going back to!" Shiho said.

"Too dangerous!" Shinichi replied right away.

"Too bad, I'm going anyway; I'm worried about Ran-chan." Shiho countered.

"Shut up and get moving already!" Shuichi roared, and at his command, the group made to leave.

A man stepped out of the shade of the tree and smirked. He reached into his pocket for his cell phone and dialed a number. "Do it, Latte." He said and hung up.

~T o B e C o n t i n u e d~

This chapter was done throughout a long span of time so it doesn't flow as well due to all the pauses. Plus I got rather lazy.


	3. Chapter 3: The Curse of Love

KudoEdogawa presents...

""Everlasting""

***

Chapter 3::

Shinichi, Heiji, Shiho, Jodie, and Shuichi hopped on to Shuichi's black car and took off immediately. Shinichi's face was full of worry and concern, his drooped eyebrows looking as if they'll fall off anytime soon and his lips are bit until drips of blood begin to ooze out of the wound.

"Kudo," Heiji spoke.

"We'll never reach it in time... we'd have to wait for the flight, and who knows if it's going to get delayed or not..." Shinichi said, his every sound that came out was included with the voice of frantic.

"Chill, Shinichi-kun," Shiho said as she took out her cell phone and dialed a number. "Michael? It's me," she talked into the phone. "We need the fastest chopper in the house. . . the airport? Okay, we'll be there soon."

Shinichi stared.

"A chopper will be waiting for us at the airport, my brother arranged it." Shiho said proudly.

"Shiho...," Shinichi said, "You still haven't told me who you are and why you're so rich."

"I already refused to tell you the answer five years ago, and that's not going to change now. Afterall..," Shiho paused, "A secret makes a woman woman."

A frightened expression took over Shuichi, Jodie, and Shinichi's face.

"Where..." Jodie began, "Where did you hear that?"

"My auntie told me that when I was six, why?" Shiho replied.

"Who's your aunt?" Shinichi inquired sternly.

"I don't quite remember her, but my father says that she's that famous Broadway actress: Sharon Vinyard." Shiho replied. "Isn't that amazing? Too bad she passed away..."

"Vermouth's niece?" Shuichi muttered to himself. "This might turn out fun after all."

The black rented van zipped across the highway of England and once again back into downtown London where it was stopped by the unmoving traffic once more. Shuichi sat in the driver seat, cursing and muttering random insults at the car in front of them, Jodie was eyeing Shiho every now and then. Heiji and Shinichi, who sat next to the windows, were looking at the plaza outside, their eyes darting from this tree to that car, from this cloud to the rock miles and miles below it.

There he was again, the familiar old man sitting under the tree selling jewelries. He turned his head at Shinichi and smiled again, it was such a warm and inviting smile... yet at the same time it feels mysterious, and dangerous.

Shinichi opened the car door and hopped out. "I'll be right back!"

"Oy, Kudo!" Heiji shouted.

"Let him go," said Shuichi, "It's going to take about half an hour till this lot moves anyway." Shuichi put a cigarette to his mouth and lighted it.

Shinichi strode across the plaza to the old man, who looked up at him and gave him another smile. "You've returned, young Kudo." The old man said, not in English, but instead in perfect Japanese. "Much trouble and toil is upon you, and it is partly my fault; I've only told you the legend of that heart-shaped ring... however, you did not wait for me to tell you the later half of that legend, the dark and terrorized curse that lay within it."

"Curse?" Shinichi repeated. "But you said that whoever was bonded by the ring shall live a perfect life."

"You have good memory, young Kudo. But the bond of the ring only lasts if the True Love --the ruby-- lasts, now the ruby fades into a diamond, and such fading has its consequences, that's the curse of it. It is not your fault that the True Love faded, for you were suffering from amnesia when you fell for the other woman, but nevertheless, the ruby has faded.

"Though the love was regained between you and your wife, the ruby can never return to its original state. Certain events in life are not fair, young Kudo, like my store; it was shut down and now I have to sit out here under the sun for business."

"What is the curse?" Shinichi questioned.

"The consequences, of course. But what will fall upon your family, I cannot say, it could be young Ran-kun or you that the curse falls upon, and only through regaining what is most significant might the curse leave. You have questions, I understand, but now is not the time for questions, the cars are beginning to move, you wouldn't want to delay them any longer." The man pointed at the long line of cars, and indeed, the cars in the front are making slow proceeds, and within the black van, Heiji was shouting at him to get back.

"Who are you?" Shinichi questioned. The man only smiled. A group of female tourists came and surrounded the small stand, and Shinichi left reluctantly.

"Who was that?" Heiji asked as Shinichi got back on the van.

"No one... I thought he looked familiar, turned out it was the person whom I bought Ran's ring from."

Heiji asked no more and the van zoomed towards the airport, where a black helicopter with the letters "LC" was imprinted on the door of the chopper. Shinichi and Heiji helped loading their luggage while Shinichi walked around the chopper, apparently amazed.

"So, uh..., what does 'LC' stand for?" He asked at last.

"Oh, that," Shiho replied. "It's _one_ of my dad's companies, it stands for 'Liquor Corporations.' I think it has something to do with wine business, but I'm not sure; I'm not all that interested in his business."

_Wine business? _Shinichi thought to himself. _And blood relation with Vermouth... just what is her family background?_ Shinichi was lost in his thoughts until Heiji's shouting brought him back to earth; the luggage were loaded and they were ready for take off. Shinichi rushed onto the helicopter as it began to rise and the airport came into view..., then the plaza, and then the church. The three locations formed a perfect "V" in the city, but no one noticed this as the city was being covered by sheets of white cloud, and they rose to meet the sun.

~*~

_Shinichi!! Shinichi!!_

Someone was crying out to him, he was needed.

_Ran!!_

He was running as fast as he could, but Ran was engulfed by flames that faded into the heart-shaped diamond, which shattered and went with the wind.

_Only through regaining what is most significant might the curse leave,_ Came the voice of the man.

A toddler was walking unsteadily towards him, a big grin on his face. His tiny arms outstretched, as if asking for someone to pick him up and embrace him, but instead, darkness came over him as he, too, faded along with his mother.

~*~

Shinichi's eyes snapped open. He was sweating. Heiji and Shiho are asleep on either side of him, Shuichi and Jodie were staring coldly out the window and the darkened world below.

"Nightmare?" Jodie asked.

"Kind of," he replied.

"Wake the other two up, we're approaching Tokyo," Shuichi declared. "We'll be landing on the roof of Beika Grand Hotel; quicker to get to your residence from there."

Shinichi shook awake Heiji and Shiho as the helicopter approached the rooftop. He stared down; Beika looks pretty peaceful for now, just as when he left: like the reflection of the night sky, glittering with star-like lights.

As soon as the aircraft has landed, Shinichi and his companions hopped off it and dashed to ground floor where they quickly boarded another vehicle --a cab-- to and headed towards Shinichi's house to find everything dark and quiet. Shinichi checked his watch: eight-thirty in the evening, they shouldn't be asleep yet.

"Oh, Shinichi-kun!" Came a cheery voice behind them. Shinichi turned around; it was Hakase. "If you're looking for Ran-chan, I think she went to Mouri's old office with Hiro-chan."

"Detective Agency," Shinichi said to Heiji upon hearing this. "Let's go." And the five of them dashed off, but not before giving Hakase a quick thank-you.

_Gosh, Ran. Please be alright._ Shinichi wished in his mind, but it was not fulfilled; greeting them at the Detective Agency was a cruel and burning flame.

"RAN!!" Shinichi roared. "HIROICHI!!"

He ran forward, wanting to charge into the fiery building but was blocked by the fire-fighters and police that have already gotten there. In midst of the watching crowd, and path was cleared and Shinichi could just barely see his wife's face. He pushed away the crowd and dashed next to his wife.

"Ran!" He exclaimed as he grabbed her hand. Thank God that there has not been any visible burns.

Ran opened her eyes slowly and saw a blurry image of her husband, "Shinichi..." She breathed. "They took him... they took our son... find him..."

"Hiroichi?!" Shinichi exclaimed. "Who's _they_? Who?"

Ran opened her mouth and panted two words: "Those men..." and she fainted. The nurse nearby placed an oxygen mask on her face and loaded her onto the ambulance and the vehicle drove away."

Shinichi dropped onto his knees and cried silently; he was late.

The crowd began to dismiss themselves as the fire was put out. Heiji put one hand on his best friend's shoulder and knelt down beside him. "C'mon," he said, "Get yourself up and let's find those men, get your son back, and seriously kick their butts, huh? What say you, pal?"

Face still stained with tear, Shinichi muttered, "I'll kill her; I will kill Vermouth."

~T o B e C o n t i n u e d~

The first chapter of 2004!! On the first day of 2004!! Happy New Year to all, as well as a belated Merry Christmas.


	4. Chapter 4: A Conspiracy Unveiled

KudoEdogawa presents...

""Everlasting""

***

Chapter 4::

Shinichi sat by the window. The sun was rising slowly, warming the hospital wing, but no trace of warmness could be found in Shinichi's heart. His hands were clasped together, his head bowed, his face expressionless, and his eyes staring at the emptiness in front. None can tell what he's thinking, but whatever it is, it brought tears back into his eyes, his blue, saddened eyes.

Heiji and Shiho watched from the small opening of the door, and as they saw the tears slid down his cheek, their faces saddened as well. Heiji quietly shut the door and sat on the benches in the hallway. It was quiet, except for the occasional footsteps of nurses and doctors passing by.

"Poor guy," said Heiji after a half-hour silence. Shiho looked at him. "First he gets turned into a kid for five years, and two years later, he loses his memory, and five years later, which is now, he loses his son." Heiji sighed. "I wished that some of that bad luck would come to me... the dude's suffered way too much since high school."

"If only we could help him..." Shiho began when a loud rumbling came from the end of the corridor, a moment later Ayumi, Genta, Mitsuhiko, and Ai appeared.

"Why aren't you guys at school?" Heiji said when they reached the door.

"We saw our teacher's newspaper..." Mitsuhiko panted.

"And saw the news on the front page..." Genta continued.

"Our school knows that we know you... so they let us out," Ayumi finished and they collapsed to the ground. "Isn't that right, Ai-chan?"

But Ai wasn't listening. She was staring at Shiho with an expression of shock and fear.

"Who..." she began.

But Heiji cut her off, "I'll explain later," he whispered.

"So," said Mitsuhiko when he regained his breath, "How's Ran-neechan and Shinichi-niichan?"

"Not good..." Heiji replied. "Ran's wasn't burned, but she inhaled a lot of smoke and is still unconscious, plus the loss of her son makes the condition worse. The doctor says death is a possibility."

"Death?" Genta exclaimed. "And... loss of her son...?"

Heiji nodded, "Before Neechan fainted she told us that Hiro-kun was taken by a group of men."

"The Organization?" Mitsuhiko gasped.

"Most likely," Heiji sighed.

There was silence again, but pretty soon, noises arose all around as noon approached slow. All of a sudden, Ayumi opened the door and strode over to Shinichi, who was holding Ran's hand now and caressing it with soft touches.

"Shinichi-niichan..."

"Ohayou, Ayumi-chan," he said, it was barely a hoarse whisper.

"Shinichi-niichan..."

And they stayed like that for a while, the others watching at the door.

Ayumi took a deep breath and shouted: "GET UP SHINICHI-NIICHAN!!"

"Shh..." Shinichi whispered, still holding Ran's hand. "You'll disturb her... let her rest..."

"GET UP!!" Ayumi cried, tears forming around her eyes. "GET UP AND LET'S GO FIND HIRO-KUN!! GET UP!!" She blinked the tears out of her eyes.

"They would've contacted me by now if they really wished to challenge me..." Shinichi said. "They haven't..." The suddenly he looked at Ayumi, his expression fierce and angry. "They took Hiro and burnt the building to kill Ran! That was their plan! To kill my family... it's is only a fate to be met sooner or later..." He sat back down and took Ran's hand again.

Heiji was watching with anger, he could take it no more. He went into the room and grabbed Shinichi's arm and pulled him up. "GET UP, YOU LOSER!! GET UP!" He let go of Shinichi's arm and Shinichi dropped down again, missing the chair and falling to the floor.

"I said be quiet..." Shinichi whispered, "She's resting."

"I can't believe you!" Heiji cried. "So you're just going to sit here and forget about your son? What then? Even if Ran does wake up, she'll be in extreme sorrow to see that you have failed her!"

"I said be quiet..." Shinichi said again.

Heiji bared his teeth and picked Shinichi roughly up from the ground, and without waiting for him to fall, he punched Shinichi in the face. Shinichi, unexpected of the punch, was knock backwards and broke the window behind him. Nurses and doctors nearby heard the shatter and came in to stop Heiji from kicking Shinichi, who sat back down, his face bruised and his lips bleeding.

But he was also crying.

"I'm useless..." Shinichi said through tears. "I don't even have the courage to find him.... If I get him back, then they're just going to try again, and again, and again... and it'll never end!!"

Heiji calmed down at his words, his eyes full of sorry. "Hey buddy..." he said hoarsely, "Sorry I punched you..."

"No..." Shinichi said, standing up. "I deserved it." He stood facing the wall, palms against it, and began knocking his head into the wall.

"Kudo!!" Heiji yelled and drips of blood fell to the ground.

The nurses and doctors who were holding Heiji had to stop Shinichi this time, who, unlike Heiji, resisted.

"Calm down, Kudo!" Heiji shouted. But Shinichi will not listen.

"STOP IT SHINICHI-NIICHAN!!" Ayumi cried, sobbing.

Mitshuiko and Genta came into the room as well, "STOP IT!!" They cried, their eyes watery. It was not until Shiho and more nurses came that Shinichi stopped.

"Why...?" Ayumi said through tears, "Why did it become like this? Didn't we agreed to go to the zoo tomorrow?"

"The zoo?" Heiji repeated.

"Yeah..." Mitsuhiko said, explaining for Ayumi, who was sobbing to much to continue to speak. "Last night, before the fire, we went over to the agency to babysit Hiro-kun. Ran-neechan said that she's going to take us all to the zoo tomorrow, 'cause Hiro-kun's never been to the zoo before. And Hiro-kun got so excited that he began to pack his backpack right away."

"Backpack...?" Shiho said.

Ai came into the room to comfort Ayumi, "Yeah, he was so enthusiastic," she said, "He said because Kudo-kun couldn't go, he'll go in his Touchan's place by bring things."

"Then he went into his room and packed the picture and Conan's old badge and began marching in the house with those things. It was so adorable... to bad Haibara-kun wasn't there," Genta finished.

An expression of shock and hope came upon the faces of Heiji and Ai. They looked at each other and nodded. 

"Do you know where it is?" Heiji asked her.

She nodded, "Hakase has it."

"Go and get it... it's our only hope," Heiji said.

Ai nodded again and left the hospital. Heiji then went up to Shinichi, who was still bleeding and crying.

"Did you hear that, Kudo?" said Heiji. "There's a way to find Hiroichi!"

Shinichi remained silent.

"Shinichi?" Heiji said again. Shinichi did not reply.

A knock on the door made everyone turn, Shuichi and Jodie were standing outside. "Can we speak to you, Hattori-kun," Jodie said. It wasn't a question.

Heiji nodded and left the room, closing the door behind him. "What's wrong?"

"We paid a visit to the officer Megure. He told us that Ran-chan went to him a few months ago while Shinichi-kun's on a business trip to Kyoto... apparently someone had broke into their residence when she went out for grocery shopping."

"Broken into?!" Heiji exclaimed.

Jodie nodded and continued, "After a few days' investigations, they found out that certain documents have been stolen... documents concerning the Organization."

"What?!" Heiji said in a loud whisper. "And how come Kudo didn't know of this?"

"Apparently Ran asked Officer Megure not to tell Shinichi-kun; she didn't want him to get worried."

"But... if the documents of the Organization were stolen... then..." Heiji said.

"...there is a possibility that the Organization were not involved with the fire and kidnapped," Jodie finished for him. "Instead, whoever did it was hoping that we'd assume it's the Organization, by setting up that clue back in London."

"Then who did it?" Heiji wondered out loud.

"I don't know," Jodie said while taking an envelope out of her jacket. "But she might." She handed the envelope to Heiji and continued, "It's from Vermouth, addressed to Shinichi-kun, found this morning in the mailbox of the Kudo residence. That's all we want to say, we still have investigations to do, we'll talk to you guys later."

Jodie waved and Shuichi nodded slightly and they left.

Heiji reentered the room. Shinichi back on his chair, his face still without much expression, but he was slowly bandaging his head. He forced a small smile when he saw Heiji and stood up.

"You're right, Hattori," he said, "I've been a fool. Let's go."

He began to walk towards the door, but Heiji grabbed his arm and stopped him. "Before that...," he took out Vermouth's letter and gave it to him. "It's from Vermouth."

An expression of extreme fury took over Shinichi's face and he snatched the letter out of Heiji's hand and ripped open the envelope. There was one small message written:

_Kudo Shinichi:_

_ I'll be waiting for you at three o'clock by the statue in Beika Central Park._

And the letter was signed with a graceful, artistic, and cursive "_V_".

Shinichi's hands balled into fists, crumpling the letter, he took one look at his watch: two-thirty, and strode out of the room with Heiji chasing behind him.

~*~

The park was empty at this time of day; kids are still at school, businessmen (and women) have returned to work after lunch, and housewives are probably enjoying a nice, long nap. Only a few lingered: an old couple just walking around casually, and a man with a camera, apparently a photographer. Several birds were perched on the statue, and Vermouth stood leaning against it, wearing a wig and sunglasses. As soon as Shinichi saw her, his pace increased and his fists ready to punch. Vermouth had not reacted early enough to dodge the hit, but Heiji stopped Shinichi just before the contact was about to be made.

"Calm down, Kudo!" Heiji struggled to control Shinichi.

"Yes, control yourself, Kudo Shinichi," said Vermouth.

"Why should I, _Miss Vinyard_?" Shinichi snarled.

"Because I did not burn your house, nor did I kidnap your son," Vermouth said calmly.

"Give me a good reason to believe you," Shinichi growled.

"The Organization was destroyed seven years ago," Vermouth said, "The remaining members have went into hiding, either that or resumed a normal life, no one could've given the command except me, and I had been running all over the world for my movie premiere, so I wouldn't have the time... or even the knowledge that you even have son. All I knew was that you married Angel; it was on the newspaper five years ago.

"I only learned of what happened when I returned to Japan and saw the news... I was quite happy, actually. After all, you did meddle with our business seven years ago. And then I thought of something: whoever did this was trying to frame me, believe it or not, I was there at the church about ten minutes after you left, and I saw the message. I couldn't think of anyone that could've done such a thing back then, but now I remembered-- it's our rival."

"Rival?" Shinichi repeated.

"Yes, rival. There was another underground crime ring a few years back that was always competing with us and interfering with our plans. We fought, naturally, and killed their leader, but I did not think that as the end of that organization, for they were sure to seek revenge. But you've done the job for them," she paused and continued. "However, they must've learned that I survived through the media... they knew I had power in our own organization, and that the other surviving members would regroup at my command, so they planned to frame me."

"Then why was I involved?" Shinichi asked.

"Although you did bring a downfall to the organization, but they still desire to murder us with their own hands... and that was a satisfactory you could not have given them, and they hate you for that. How they would love to see their two enemies kill each other in an affair in which both are innocent."

"Wouldn't have happened if Gin and Vodka hadn't drugged me in the first place," Shinichi said unpleasantly.

"Tell us more about this organization," Heiji said, to prevent Shinichi from continuing on. Heiji was still holding Shinichi, fearing that he might make a move once he lets go.

"I don't know much... but they bit off of us; their members are named after types of coffee and they each have a tattoo of an eagle on the back of their necks," Vermouth looked at her watch. "I have to go; the Japan premiere is soon... wanna come? I could give you guys V.I.P. seats. It's at Beika Grand Hotel."

"I think not... I'm not too fond of movies with old actresses pretending to be young," Shinichi said with small grin that showed no sign of pleasantness.

"Still haven't figured out how I did it, huh?" Vermouth mused. "Well, it's time for me to go... good luck."

They watched her leave and stayed by the statue.

"Well," Heiji said, at last letting go of Shinichi, "What now?"

"Let's go back to the hospital, Haibara's probably got the glasses already," Shinichi said, grinning.

"That's the Kudo Shinichi I knew," Heiji smiled and balled his fist. "Let's do it!"

~T o B e C o n t i n u e d~

Whew! That was probably my fastest update in quite a while. Review!


	5. Chapter 5: Eagle Hunters

KudoEdogawa presents...

"Everlasting"

***

Chapter 5::

The night is late and cold, gusts of chilling wind dominates the streets outside. The ordinary folks are all asleep at this ungodly hour, but no rest could be found in Agasa Hakase's house. Hakase could be found running around his laboratory with his goggles and a variety of tools and Haibara sat in front of the computer, typing up the code for some sort of program. Shinichi was pacing back and forth in Hakase's house and Heiji watched this all in the corner of the room.

"Can I ask what you guys are doing, exactly?" Heiji questioned at last.

"We're widening the range on the glasses' detections. We checked the glasses before you guys came and no signal could be found on it," Haibara said monotonously as she pressed enter. "Done."

Hakase removed his goggles and connected a PDA sort of thing to the computer. "Mine's done, too. We'll just have to install the program on the device."

"Oh," Heiji replied without showing any signs of amazement.

Shinichi watched over Hakase's shoulder as the green installation bar fills up... slowly... slowly... slowly...

_A heart shaped diamond appeared before Shinichi's eyes... there was someone trapped in it..._

_"Ran!"_

_Ran's hands beated on the shell of the diamond, her face filled with fright and worry. "Shinichi!" She mouthed as a hole opened up in the ground and the diamond fell through. Shinichi ran towards the hole, but it closed before he could even get any close to it._

_"Shinichi!! Shinichi!! _Shinichi-kun!" Shinichi snapped back to reality to find him staring in Hakase's face. "Are you okay, Shin-kun?"

Shinichi found himself covered in sweat, he scanned the floor for signs of a hole, but he found none. "Yeah," he said absent-mindedly, "Yeah, I'm alright, what's up?"

Hakase delivered the PDA device to Shinichi, "It's finished. We installed a map in it so that the locations would be more precise and we strengthened the frequency levels, you should be able to find Hiro-chan now."

Shinichi turned the device on and navigated through it, and sure enough, several miles outside the city of Beika, a small dot blinked.

"Hiro-kun..." Shinichi whispered.

Heiji came up and slapped his back hardly, "Well, what are we waiting for?"

"For rest, of course!" A voice said behind them. They turned around to find Kazuha standing at the door, holding the three-year old Kaze in her arms. "You two are not going _anywhere_ until you've had a good rest, especially you, Shinichi, you haven't slept at all since the fire, have you?"

"H-How did you find us?" Heiji said, rather surprised.

"I'm you're wife, what else do you expect?" Kazuha said matter-of-factly. Then she put Kaze into Heiji's arms and used her now-free hands to push Shinichi and Heiji out the lab, towards Shinichi's house.

Hakase blinked after the leaving figures, hearing a faint voice saying, "And you can't leave until you've had breakfast..."

_Good luck, Kudo-kun_. Haibara left and went to her room downstairs.

Morning arrived a few hours after and Shinichi and Heiji arose early in the morning to see Kazuha already making breakfast in the kitchen. Scents of food drifted throughout the house, though Shinichi showed no reaction to it. He ate hurriedly and headed with Heiji to the hospital, where Ran was still unconscious.

Shinichi walked slowly to the side of Ran's bed and picked up her hand, "Don't worry, Ran," he said softly, "I'll find our son... I'll find him and bring him back to us, I promise."

Still Ran remained fainted, Shinichi's face sorrowed, but he showed no signs of forfeit. He promised Ran to bring Hiroichi back, though he's had many promises before, and many of them were broken, this is one that he will keep no matter what.

Shinichi took out the device that Hakase gave him and turned it on, the small dot was still there, but further and much smaller.

"They're moving away from the city..., and moving fast..." Shinichi pressed several buttons on the machine and a map was called out. "They're in the Shinjitsu District... and leaving it," he groaned, "We'll never catch up with them at this rate."

"Not if you keep standing around," came a stern and serious voice behind them--Akai Shuichi and Jodie were there. "Come on, you've got an FBI helicopter waiting for you." He swung his head to motion them to leave and stepped out.

"You've helped us much, Kudo-kun," Jodie said, "Now let us help you. We have informed the HQ that the Organization might be behind this, they're allowing us to do whatever it takes to track down the kidnappers."

Shinichi nodded and followed Shuichi out the hospital.

~*~

The helicopter hovered over the city, which was unusually crowded and lively even though it's a work day. Shinichi watched the screen of the device as the the blinking dot that betokened his son got closer and closer to the larger dot that represented themselves.

"Here!" Shinichi exclaimed suddenly, still staring at the device. "We've overlapped the dot, they're right below us... and they don't seem to be moving."

Shuichi stared coldly down at below. "Shinjitsu Grand Hotel..." he informed them, "That's an interesting place to keep a hostage. Let's land."

"Land?!" Jodie exclaimed suddenly. "You're not going to land without informing the hotel, are you?"

"Jodie..." Shuichi said as he lowered the helicopter, "When have I ever done things according to the rules?" He smirked and landed.

The four of them hopped off the helicopter, Shuichi was examining the chopper, "Hmm... didn't land right in the center."

"Oh, please!" Jodie said and stared at him disapprovingly.

"Well, how are we going to find Hiro-kun now?" Heiji asked.

"They're not on the roof, certainly," Shinichi said, still examining the device. "I've minimized the range, he's somewhere towards the north side of the building."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Shuichi asked and headed for the stairwell.

Heiji stared after him and blinked. "He's not going to search floor by floor by floor, is he?"

"Probably," said Jodie as she followed after Shuichi.

"But... there's gosh-knows-how-many floors here!" Heiji exclaimed.

"Well," Shinichi said, following after Jodie's footsteps, "You wanted to come."

"Fine!" Heiji said and left the roof.

They started out with the ground floor, asking all the security guards and employees to see if any suspicious men were found, but none has seen such men of the sort with a boy that was like what Shinichi had described Hiroichi was like.

"They must've disguised themselves to not attract attention," Heiji concluded. The other agreed with him and they began searching the building, but to they're disappointment, there's nothing but elevators on the north of the building.

"Dammit, but the device says it's here!" Shinichi cursed.

Heiji wandered towards the center of the lobby and stared at the floor guide that was there since many office buildings were built into the hotel as well. An expression of shock came upon his face as he read, "Hey, Kudo..." he called. "There's a basement... a swimming pool and gym in the basement accessible only by the stairs."

"They must be there!" Shinichi said and dashed off towards the stairs. Shuichi and Jodie followed, but Heiji stayed.

_Why do I think this is going too perfectly for us?_ He wondered. _I have a bad feeling about this..._ He clutched the omamori that hung around his neck, then, realizing that the others have gone, he proceeded towards the basement.

It was loud and noisy in the basement, many were there to swim or work out, water splashed everywhere and benches were set up around the area. Heiji found Shinichi, Shuichi, and Jodie standing in a corner, observing the guests.

"What's wrong?" Heiji asked.

Shinichi pointed towards a muscled man not to far from them. The man wore a pair of sunglasses and red swim trunks, he seemed too muscular to be just a regular guest, and yet, there was a woman next to him which looks like to be his wife... creating an illusion of a family.

"According to the device, it should be right where that man is..." Shinichi said, "But he looks like he's on vacation with that woman next to him, and Hiro-kun is nowhere to be found."

Just as they were pondering what to do next, Jodie gasped. "Look!" She pointed at them; the woman had stood up, revealing a black tattoo in the shape of an eagle spreading its wings. "Vermouth told you that they had tattoos of eagles, right?" Jodie asked, but Shinichi had already approached the woman and grabbed her wrist.

"Where is my son?" He said menacingly.

"What are you talking about?" The woman said and shook herself free. "My son... the boy that your organization had kidnapped a few nights ago, after burning the Mouri Detective Agency."

"I've no clue what you're talking about," said the woman.

"Don't lie!" Shinichi almost shouted. "He had a badge with him, and we tracked it down to here."

"Oh," the man spoke suddenly as he, too, got off his seat and turned his back towards Shinichi, revealing a tattoo of an eagle as well. He reached for a bag that was behind and took out something small from it, something yellow with words imprinted on it.

"'Detective Boys,'" the man repeated the words on the badge, "A very nice design, isn't it?" He said and grinned.

"We happened to found out that there was some sort of radar built into this," the man continued. "We knew you'd track it down to find him, so we created... hmmm, how would you say it... a diversion? Your son is far away from Tokyo as we speak."

He laughed, and the woman smirked. Rage built up in Shinichi as he balled his hand into fists and punched, with all the strength and anger that he could muster at the moment, the man in the face. The man was sent to his knees, tumbling next to his bag.

"Not bad," he said, wiping the blood that was trickling out of his lips. "But these muscles..." he flexed, "Are not for display..." He dashed towards Shinichi and punched him, with force that Shinichi had never felt before. Shinichi was blown backwards and fell into the pool. Many people screamed and ran frantically out of the place.

Click!

The man and the woman turned to see Jodie there, holding a gun, "Don't move! FBI!"

"Ooh," the woman said, "The American lady has a gun, what do you think we should do, Latte?"

The man named Latte walked towards his bag and reached for something.

"I said don't move!" Jodie shouted.

"What do we do?" Latte repeated. _Boom!_ "Shoot her before she gets us, of course." He said. He had straightened up, holding a gun as well. "You see... we came prepared."

Jodie cursed as she fell to the ground; her shoulder has been hit.

"That bastard!" Heiji cursed as he helped Shinichi out of the water.

_Boom!_

Shuichi had stepped out from the corner, a gun in his hand also. The bullet had scratched Latte's face, leaving a brown burn and a trace of blood. The rest of the people has escaped the area at the second gunshot.

"Tell us where the boy is, or I won't miss next time," Shuichi threatened coldly.

The two men stared at each other perilously.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This chapter took a while to write because I didn't want them to find Hiroichi so soon. I'm beginning to like Shuichi more and more, he's a really cool character to work with. Please review!


	6. Chapter 6: Dilemma

KudoEdogawa presents...

"Everlasting"

***

Chapter 6::

"Where is the boy?" Shuichi repeated, the gun pointing mercilessly at the man named Latte.

"Gate of Heaven," Latte said.

"I don't listen to popular music, sorry,"* Shuichi said, "Now tell me where he is!"

"I've already said it," Latte said, raising his gun, "Gate of Heaven..." He pulled the trigger and fired at Shuichi who dodge the hit in a swift movement and countered the attack by firing from his own gun. Neither one hit each other and they kept firing until they ran out on ammo.

"Damn," Shuichi cursed and dropped his gun, opposite to him, Latte did the same. Shuichi removed his black, leather jacket and his hat, "I guess physical contact is inevitable." With that he charged at the man and threw a fierce punch at his face. Latte flinched and staggered, Shuichi took the chance and attacked again, this time kicking Latte behind his knees, making him fall. Just as Shuichi was about to hand chop the man behind his back, the woman snuck up behind him pulled on his silky black hair.

"Thanks," Latte said, regaining his posture and wiping that blood that's trickling out of his lips. "Now I've gotta repay you," he said to Shuichi and balled his fists.

"No you don't!" Heiji's voice came from behind. Latte turned around and saw Heiji dashing at him, preparing to punch. The muscled man turned to face Heiji instead, and just the moment before the contact, he opened the palm of his hand and blocked the fist, however, Heiji grinned.

"What's so funny?" Latte said, his other hand ready to hit, "I'll make sure you suf-"

Before he could finish it, he fell to the ground, no longer conscious. Heiji smiled and carefully removed something from between his fingers: a small needle from the Tranquilizer Watch. "See what I tell you?" He turned around to speak to Shinichi, who was helping Jodie with her wound, "All muscle; no brain."

Shuichi grinned as well; he's gotta appreciate the two men's help. "Well, time to end this," he said and reached back, "No one touches my hair and gets away with it." His hands found the women's thin wrists, and then, with a monstrous force, he lifted the women off her feet and threw her above his head. The women fell with a rather painful _Bang!_ as she, too, passed out.

"Let's leave the rest to the police," Shinichi said, "Let's go."

"Hehehe..." Came a snicker; Latte had one eye open, looking weakly at Shinichi, "Are... are you sure you're just gonna leave me here?" It seems that the tranquilizer hasn't taken its full effect. "Well, let me tell you one thing: ...It was I who set fired on your house..."

Shinichi's expression changed.

"I hit your wife and sent her flying into the wall, and I grabbed your son and whacked him unconscious... hehehe, and how I enjoyed it." With that he fell, no longer having the strength to resist the tranquilizer.

Shinichi looked away and walked towards the stair solemnly.

"Kudo!" Heiji shouted, "You're not just gonna let him go like this, are you?"

"The police can deal with him," Shinichi repeated, not bothering to stop, "Let's find Hiro... I know where he is."

***

"When you asked him, he replied with 'Gate of Heaven' right?" Shinichi said to the other three once they've gotten back on the helicopter. "There is only one place that fits the description, and that would be Koube."

"Koube?" Jodie said, "How so?"

"The Kanji characterization of 'Koube' means, literally, 'The Residence of God,' which is where 'Gate of Heaven' would lead to," Shinichi explained.

"But Koube isn't a small town; it's going to be heard to search for Hiro-kun when the clues we have are so broad," said Shuichi.

"Not quite, the clue give was the Gate of Heaven, so it's somewhere _ leading_ into Koube, not Koube itself, and around Koube, only one entrance is big enough to be qualified as a 'gate'," said Shinichi.

Realization came to Heiji and he blurted out, "The Koube Harbor!"

"Yes, the Gate that connects Koube with the Osaka Bay, that is where we need to go."

"We won't fly directly to the harbor, it might attract too many attention to whoever's there," Shuichi said, "I'm going to land us in the Osaka airport and travel by car from there."

"Sounds good," Shinichi concurred, "That is where we will go."

"Alright, I'll ask my dad to contact the airport," said Heiji. He leaned forward to where the pilot is and reached for the communicator as he dialed Hattori-san's cell phone.

This was going too smooth, Shinichi thought, and he was right. A while after they had landed in Osaka, Heiji received a phone call from a frantic and closed-to-tears Kazuha, "Hei-chan!" came the voice of his wife, "Ran-chan... Ran-chan disappeared!"

Shinichi, who was close enough to Heiji to hear their conversation, froze on the spot.

"W-what?!" Heiji exclaimed. "How?"

"I don't know," said Kazuha through the phone, "I went to visit her this morning in the hospital, but there was no one there! The nurses there said someone came earlier to take her home, but when I went back to Kudo's house, I found no one, and then I asked Hakase, and he didn't know anything either!"

"C-calm down, Kazuha," Heiji tried to comfort her, "Don't worry, we'll sort things out. Yeah... uh-huh... I know, hon.... Yes... It's gonna be okay.... You too... yeah... bye."

"Well, Kudo," Heiji turned to Shinichi, "What now?"

Shinichi did not answer. He had no answer. He had no idea what he should do. Ran would've wanted him to get Hiroichi back first, but if he went to Koube, who knows what'll happen to Ran, and if he went to find Ran, it's only gonna give the other men time to take Hiroichi away from Koube, and they'd have to start their search all over again.

"It's alright," said Jodie from behind them. Shinichi and Heiji turned to face her and she continued, "Shuichi and I will make for the harbor, we'll get your son. You two had better go back to Tokyo before something happens to Mouri-kun."

Although reluctant, Shinichi nodded and agreed. They said farewell to Jodie as they drove away and asked the Osaka Police Department to dispatch a helicopter and take them back to Tokyo.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*"Gates of Heaven" is the new album of Do As Infinity, the songs aren't bad, try 'em!


	7. Chapter 7: Shiho

KudoEdogawa presents...

"Everlasting"

***

Chapter 7::

There were three police cars parked downstairs when he arrived, and the hospital have put up a sign saying that no more visitors and new patient will be allowed except emergencies. Takagi and Satou were waiting outside and sighed when they saw Shinichi and Heiji arrive, they were relieved that he got here safely, but also sad for him as the afternoon sun mercilessly reflected its rays on his disappointed face.

Sonoko, Kazuha, and Eri sat on the bench outside the room that Ran was supposed to be in. Kazuha was blaming herself and sobbing softly, with Sonoko and Eri comforting her. Though Eri appeared to be alright, her heart was in deep pain, if Ran's being with Shinichi meant so much suffering, then would it be best if he left her? Or, if worse comes to worse, she leave him. Eri closed her eyes and shook her head lightly, how could she do such a thing? After all, she and Kogoro were so deeply in love as well, it was unbearable for her when Kogoro had died, and she thought that Fate was unfair to her... and who is she to decide Ran and Shinichi's happiness?

Heiji leaned on the wall opposite to Kazuha and Shinichi was facing the wall, his right arm leaning against it and supporting his head. He was to blame for this all, not the Organization, not the Eagles, and certainly not Kazuha, but himself. If he had just controlled his own curiosity and sense of justice for one single night, then none of these would've happened.

Inside the room, Officers Megure and Shiratori were command a group of inspection team who were busy scanning the entire room and finger-printing every squared millimeters. "Don't worry," Megure said more than once, "We'll help you get Ran, and Hiro-kun back. This has gone too far, those people must be stopped."

"She doesn't deserve this, Hattori," Shinichi said hoarsely. "Her life changed ever since that night, she's not supposed to be so unfortunate."

"You don't deserve it either, Kudo," Heiji comforted. "Everyone knows how much the two of you love each other, and I know that the pain in your heart right now is not lightly measured."

"I can't even protect someone I love!" He shouted, but only so that Heiji hears him, "I wasn't there to help her in the end at the theatre, and was instead protected by her when the restaurant blew up, she almost got shot in that castle, and then she lost her memory and almost got ran over by a train, and then _she_ risked _her_ life to save _me_, once at the Gemini Towers and once in the game! And that time in Kyoto... they almost got us....*"

"It's not your fault," Heiji said and laid a friendly hand on his shoulder, his own expression sorrowful.

"You might want to stop crying, Kudo-kun," a tiny voice said behind him.

He turned around: it was Haibara. Looking quite bored with her hands behind her back. "Just to let you know, that girl who looked like me has not shown up for quite a while."

"And...?" Shinichi questioned.

"Nothing," Ai replied, "Just thought I'd let you know. And by the way, Ayumi-chan said that the nurse at the front desk refused to let Ran go, but whoever took her insisted." And she walked to join the Detective Boys, who were busy questioning every nurse and doctor in the hospital.

Shinichi remained silent for a while and though to himself. He must calm down, he cannot let his anxiety and pressure take over. He closed his eyes and thought. There were no clues. Not yet, for the finger-printing process was not complete. But if a member of the Eagles or the Black Organization came and took her, the nurses must know something's not right by their looks and attitude. Plus, Officer Megure have long declared that Ran is a special patient and no one except certain people may see her. _...Which meant that it was someone who Ran knew,_ Shinichi thought. Heiji did not interrupt him, he need to think and be left alone, so he stayed and supported Shinichi with silence. But Shinichi could not concentrate, all he could think of is what could've happened to Ran by now, and his mind sped through his memory to high school, the happy times before he was shrunken. But somewhere in between those memories two letters flashed, he could not read it the first time, and the letters flashed again. One is the letter L...

The other is C.

Shinichi sped downstairs to the parking lot and hopped onto his red car--Ran had picked the color, obviously. Heiji had offered his help, but Shinichi insisted that he go alone.

After all... this is something that only he could solve.

~*~

"It's strange how cruel Fate could be, isn't it Ran?" Her hand brushed away the hair that covered Ran's eyes, the afternoon sun shining on the lifeless face. "It's like you can't trust anyone anymore, and everything you've known to be true in your life has been a lie, even those that you had so much faith and trust in, right?

"If you were conscious now, I know that you'd hate me... don't. You deserved it. As much as I like you and appreciate the times that we've been friends. Fate is so unfair, is it not? Just when I was the most happy, you had to come and destroy it all. Right when I thought that I have a perfect and normal family, I realize that my family is just a part of a great threat to society... do you know how much harm that realization was? You don't, do you? After all, you have everything you need, a family, tons of friends, a husband, AND a son. You were never pressured to continue the family business and to keep making money. You had it all... family, friends, love, and happiness. I hate you for that.... You took him. Him and I were not friends as we used to be, and he's got his thoughts all spinning around the little Hell that is you and your son!!"

The woman calmed down, and retrieved a gun from the inner pocket of her black jacket and pointed it at the girl in front of her. "It was nice to meet you... you gave me a reason to hate. Goodbye now."

Through the windows she could see a red car approaching, moments later the doorbell rang. Frustrated that she'd have to leave the murder for later, she left the bed where the girl was placed, returned the gun to its original position, and went downstairs to meet her guest.

"Where is she?" Shinichi said as the door was opened.

"Who?"

"You know who. I know you've got her, now where is she?!" Shinichi made an attempt to go into the house, but the woman pushed him aside.

"Calm yourself, Shinichi! Now what on Earth what your talking about?"

"Don't play games with me! Now you can either give her back to me, or I'd have to hurt you!"

The woman was stunned... the man whom she's loved for so long would actual hurt her... for that other woman?

Shinichi seized the chance and dashed in the house. He was reaching for the handrail of the stairs when a bullet hit and busted the delicate structure.

"Stay right there! Or else you'll die before that woman!!" The woman cried.

Shinichi turned around, his expression calm, yet also disappointed. "So it is you isn't it?" He said, "...Shiho."

====================================================================

*Referring to all of the incidents in the movies

Waaah... I didn't get any reviews last chapter. Oh well, this chapter took quite a while, for rants and excuses, go to my profile page.

Hmm, hmm... could this possibly turn into a S/S like "Always"? You'll hafta find out ^_~


	8. Chapter 8: The Rescue::Volume Hiroichi

KudoEdogawa presents...

"Everlasting"

***

Chapter 8::

"There is it," Jodie said, looking out at the harbor along the seashores. She retrieved a pair of binoculars from her purse and examined the warehouses for any signs of activity. "It's pretty dead for a harbor," she commented.

"That's good," Shuichi said as he drove the black car down the road, "Wouldn't want too much attention."

The waves assaulted the pearly white sand, and seagulls slept peacefully on roofs of the warehouses, completely unaware of the upcoming bloodshed. Shuichi parked the car in front of the first set of the warehouses and opened the back trunk of the car and retrieved from it a large black jacket; the same one that he wore when she saw Ran on that wintry day in Beika.* He opened up one side of the jacket and revealed many pockets, in which he placed guns that he had already prepared in the trunk. He tossed a small hand gun to Jodie, who caught it and placed it in the inner pocket of her red jacket.

"Let's bust this case," she said, and the two of them proceeded.

They went knocking on the door of every single warehouse, and when no one answered, they'd kick down the door and do a thorough search to make sure they don't miss anything. The first was empty except some cargo, the second had several boats, the third had what seemed to be extra parts for ships, and when they came to the fourth, they heard a small voice whisper: "Go check who it is."

"Must be boss, she said she's gonna come and get this brat once she finishes her job in Tokyo; wants to train this brat, she says," a second voice reply, and they heard chairs being shuffled and soft footsteps.

The door opened, and in one swift movement, Shuichi kneed whoever opened the door in the stomach, turned him around, seized his neck with one arm, and pointed a gun at the man's head with the other.

"Don't move, FBI!" Jodie shouted as she pointed her gun at the first man who talked as well as showing her badge.

"Damn..." the first man said slowly as he got up and put his hands up, "It's just a small twerp, did America's great agents really have to come all the way here?"

"Give us the boy, or I'll bust this man's head open," Shuichi threatened, pressing the mouth of the gun closer to the man's head.

"Alright, alright," the man said leisurely, though carefully staring at Jodie as she followed his every movement with the gun.

Poor Hiroichi was asleep, or unconscious, in the corner of the room, a big, purple bruise on his pale, little face. The man went and bent down and acted as if he was untying the boy's restraints, yet the man stood back up a moment later, clutching Hiroichi by the neck and a gun next to his head.

"Ha ha!" the man laughed menacingly, "Come on! Bust his head now!" He taunted, "Or even mine!" He said, looking at Jodie. "Either way, I'll fire as soon as I hear a gun shot, how's that for a change, huh?"

"Drop the boy," Shuichi said clear and serious, tone of threat and murder with every word.

"No," the man said. "Drop _your_ guns or I'll kill him now. Gee, I wonder how that Kudo is going to handle the death of both his son _and_ his wife?"

"Drop the boy."

"DROP THE GUNS!!" The man shouted as soon as Shuichi's words left him. The man stared and pressed the gun forcefully at Hiroichi's head. "NOW!!"

Reluctantly, Jodie lowered her gun, and Shuichi and tossed it aside, though not daring to let his prisoner loose.

"Now," the man said with a snicker, "You are both to turn around so that I could kill you one by one... we can't have the FBI know what we're up to yet, you know. Now let's do it, starting with the woman."

"You're insane!" Jodie spat.

"DO IT NOW!!"

Jodie shot a sideways glance at Shuichi, who nodded lightly, and as he done so, he saw something: the back of his prisoner's neck... and there was not a tattoo.

Jodie spun around with her hands in the air, and Shuichi's free hand reached into his jacket. The man grinned and pulled the gun away from Hiroichi's head, directing it at Jodie instead. Shuichi seized the chance, dropped the man that he was holding, pulled a second gun from his jackets and fired at the man. The bullet struck the man's right chest, the pain bringing him to the ground, dropping Hiroichi. The man whom Shuichi was holding got on his feet and was about to attack Shuichi when Jodie awarded him with a well-struck kick.

"Dammit!" The man said, "We've gotta get outta here!" The other man clutched his chest painfully as he stood up and nodded.

_Fwish!_

There was a sound of something zooming across the air, and then an undeniable _ding!_ of a bullet hitting the ground, followed by a heavy _thud!_ The man fell forward to the ground, his lifeless body next to Hiroichi. The remaining man's eyes widened in horror as he made to escape.

"You can't even handle two FBI rats and a small brat; you've lost your worthiness," a voice said.

A second _Fwish!_ was heard as the man fell through the door of the warehouse, dead, staining the sand a bloody red.

Shuichi and Jodie turned to see a man facing them, his hair black with some strands of gold, a cigarette hanging from his mouth, narrow eyes that show no mercy, and an outstretched arm with a gun. Every single aspect of him gave the feeling of the long-deceased Gin, sending chilled air of danger down everyone's spines.

"You would be...?" Jodie spoke first.

"I was code-named Cappuccino, but you FBI rats might know me better as Moriyama Kousuke," the man said.

"M-Moriyama?!" Shuichi repeated. "The professional assassin who has killed more than three-hundred people around the world?"

"That would be me," Moriyama replied.

"But you died," said Jodie, horrified, "You died nine years ago while trying to escape."

The man chuckled, rather proudly, "Nah, that's just something that my current boss planned for me. She said that as long as I work for her, she'll make sure that I live."

"Who's your boss?" Shuichi questioned, his grip tight on his gun.

"I cannot tell you," he replied, "I'm getting bored now... so either you give me the boy, or I'll have to kill the two of you and get the boy myself."

"And how do you expect to do that?" Jodie said. Moriyama turned to look at her, and he let out a small growl; Jodie was holding some sort of telecommunication system. "The Osaka and Koube Police Department have been alerted of the boy's location, and so have the members of FBI who are here in Japan." She grinned.

"You're making this more difficult for you, lady," said Moriyama, "You see, for that, now I'd have to kill you."

He raised his gun, the shaft of the gun glimmering under the sunlight. The man smiled. A click was heard by the man and Jodie and they spun around to find Shuichi with his gun raised, "Better think twice before firing," he said.

Moriyama chuckled as his free hand reached into his jackets and retrieved from it a second gun, "You're not the only one who came prepared," he said and aimed the second gun at Shuichi.

The atmosphere was tense, none of them moved for nearly a minute, and none of them spoke. A small whine came from somewhere inside the room as Hiroichi stirred. The whine was soon followed by a long, terrified scream as Hiroichi laid his eyes on the dead body next to him and the blood which has reached his pants and stained the soft cloth.

"Hiro-chan, don't move!" Jodie shouted, tilting her head a little so she could see the little boy behind her.

Moriyama seized this chance of his enemies being distracted and ducked down, firing at the same time. The bullets hit Shuichi and Jodie in the leg, and they stumbled as they're hit. Shuichi, with the strength of the other leg, spun himself around to see Moriyama running towards Hiroichi, apparently hoping to grab the hostage and bust out of the place as soon as possible.

"Think again!" Shuichi roared and fired without aiming, and the flying bullet hit Moriyama in the upper back, near the heart. Moriyama gave a small gasp as blood gushed out of his body and he fell to the floor.

Shuichi and Jodie limped to where Moriyama was, weak and trembling.

"Thank you..." he muttered, "I've done too many wrongs in my life, and I really wanted to stop... but that woman made me do it; she said she'd kill my family... I can't let her do that, my wife and my children have done nothing immoral in their lives."

"Who's the one behind this?" Shuichi asked, while Jodie tried to rip off the sleeve of Moriyama's shirt to stop his bleeding.

"A woman," Moriyama panted. "No... not a woman -- she's a serpent, a viper, she must've came from Hell itself.... Hates the FBI.... and Kudo... his wife... danger...." He's barely making any sense as his breathing became more rapid.

"What's her name?" Shuichi questioned. "Hurry up, Jodie!"

"I'm trying!" Jodie replied sharply, lifting the man up and wrapping the ripped cloth around his body.

"Dunno her name..." Moriyama panted, "But calls herself... calls herself... Vermou-" He gave an intense cough of blood and the next second, life left him.

The wails of sirens can be heard in the distance as police cars drove into the Koube Harbor. Jodie sat with next to the dead man with a sour look, "Go on peacefully, we'll make sure your wife stays well," she said.

A dozen police officers charged into the warehouse, "Sir?" One of them said.

"It's finished here," Shuichi stood up and said, "Get the Kudo boy back to his family in Tokyo, and dispatch a team to safeguard the family members of Moriyama Kousuke."

"Moriyama?" An officer repeated.

"Do not question me!" Shuichi barked. "Just get to it!"

"Yes sir!" The officer cried in unison and left.

Shuichi walked out on to the beach, staring at the slowly setting sun, "It seems like we're not finished yet," he said softly, "...Vermouth."

==============================================================================

*Vol. 37, File 8


	9. Chapter 9: The Rescue::Volume Ran

KudoEdogawa presents...

"Everlasting"

***

Chapter 9::

The mansion was the same as he had remembered it last: the wide, spacious rooms, delicate wooden handrails for the marble staircase, the house was tiled with beautifully polished stones and the huge crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling, decorating the house for the day, and illuminating nearly the whole building during the night. The doors leading to the rooms upstairs were all open, all except one, where Ran was being held captive.

"Why, Shiho?" Shinichi asked. "Are we not friends?"

"How dare you ask me that when you were the one who has forsaken our friendship!?" Shiho cried, her voice ringing throughout the halls of the mansion.

"Me?" Shinichi repeated, "How so?"

Shiho's face was filled with disbelieve; so Ran and Kazuha weren't lying when they said that Shinichi was a total idiot when it came to matters of love. Shiho opened her mouth in an attempt to speak, shuts it in frustration, and opens it again, "By marrying that woman, of course!"

"That woman? Ran?" said Shinichi; he had no clue what made Shiho like this. This was definitely not the Shiho that he had known a few years ago.

"Yes!" Shiho barked, her eyes full of fury, a tint of sadness hidden behind it.

"Shiho," Shinichi said, "What's wrong? Let's talk about this, alright?" Shinichi pleaded.

"Nothing's wrong," Shiho said, shaking her head. Silent tear drops slid down her cheek, "Only thing wrong is my life.... Shinichi, tell me, you, as a pursuer of truth, how would you feel if you've recently discovered that for your whole life you've been living within a life?"

Shinichi was silent. He had never been engulfed in lies, and he would never know. "You must feel pained," was all he could say.

"Pained! Injured! Hurt!" Shiho cried, "Especially when a man that you're desperately in love married another woman, who just _had_ to be your friend! Married! A man whom you thought you've given up on, yet could not have forgotten for all those years!"

"I do not understand you, Shiho," Shinichi said, his tone soft, trying to calm Shiho. Yet the softness only did more damage to her.

"Don't talk to me like that... don't talk to me with such caring in your voice," Shiho begged. "You're only going to make me fall deeper into this pit of torture.... Please don't."

"Shiho? What's the matter?" Shinichi asked again, trying to sound a bit normal under Shiho's plead.

"You want to know?" Shiho shouted, her eyes wide with anger... and distress. "Alright, I'll tell you! The truth is that, Kudo Shinichi, I LOVE YOU!!"

Shinichi gave a soft _Eh?_ before realizing what Shiho was talking about. And when he did, his mind went blank and he stared disbelievingly.

"I LOVE YOU!!" Shiho continued, "AND IT'S BEEN THAT WAY FOR THE PAST FIVE YEARS!! THE TRUTH IS THAT I'VE NEVER GIVEN UP ON YOU!! THE ONLY REASON THAT I LEFT FIVE YEARS AGO WAS BECAUSE I _KNOW_ THAT YOU WILL GO BACK TO HER!!" Shiho closed her eyes and allowed her tears to fall. With the gun tight in her hand, she fired aimlessly. The shot hit Shinichi's left shoulder, making blood drip slowly down his arm.

Shiho stared; she hadn't meant to hit him.... She shook her head slowly, "And it's more painful," she said, her voice suddenly so soft that Shinichi could barely hear her, "When I've been commanded to kill your wife... I love you too much to do that, I didn't want to see you get hurt, nor did I want to hurt Ran-chan. But she threatened me! I'm not doing this because I want to..."

"Who?" Shinichi asked hoarsely, "Who commanded you?"

"I wish I could tell you..." Shiho said, "But I couldn't, nor do I want to see you suffer," Shiho said as she raised her gun again, "I don't want you to feel the pain of losing your beloved wife.... I'd have to let you leave first."

Shinichi stared, half disbelieving and half struggling, he didn't want to do what he was going to, but it had to be done to save Ran--and himself.

Tears streamed once more as Shiho whispered, "Good bye, Shinichi."

Two loud gunshots were heard as Shiho fired. Shinichi had been hiding a gun in his pockets, just in case he had to disable her...

Little did he know that his counter attacked was fatal. He could see, for a brief moment, the shock and sadness in Shiho's eyes as she fell to the ground, leaving a trail of blood falling in the air. Shinichi walked over to where Shiho was and knelt down next to her.

"I'm sorry, Shiho, I hadn't meant to-"

"It's okay," Shiho panted before he could finish, "It's better this way. I've been suffering for these past years, it's time to end them."

Shinichi looked at her with great concern and sympathy in his eyes.

Shiho smiled, "I've always loved your eyes." Shinichi gave a weak smile as a reply, "I... I have to tell you something."

"Shh," Shinichi said, "Don't talk, save your strength, I'll call an ambulance."

"No!" Shiho said and reached up to him to stop him from getting his cell phone. "That woman... she still hates you, she's regrouping...."

"Who?"

"G-Got new scientists..." Shiho's breathing was becoming more rapid, "P-Planning for... for revenge.... She won't stop until...." Shiho gave a loud groan of pain, "Until you're dead..."

"Who is it, Shiho?"

"My cousin..." she managed at last, "Chris... Chris Vinyard......."

Shiho gave a soft sight as her eyes closed and her head rolled to the side. She had left... not with sadness or regret, but with a smile so innocent and angelic that made Shinichi felt that she must be going to a good place. A silver pendant dropped from inside of her shirt, the pendant resembled an angel--Ran's gift to her five years ago.

"You really are an angel, Shiho," Shinichi said as she went upstairs and found his wife, mustering all the strength he could, he put Ran onto the car, called the police, and left for the hospital. As the red car zipped across the highway, Shinichi glared menacingly at the distance, and bared his teeth as he speeded the car up even more.

"Vermouth..." He muttered under his breath, "Just you wait...."

==============================================================================

Next chapter's the ending!! (Not sure, though most likely it will be).  
Yes, yes, I'll get working on "Feelings" after this...

And by the way, flames from S/S supporters not accepted, cash, check, and credit cards are though!


	10. Chapter 10: Everlasting

KudoEdogawa presents...

"Everlasting"

***

Chapter 10::

Shinichi walked slowly up the hospital steps, Ran's weight inflicting great pain upon his injured shoulder. He wondered how Shuichi and Jodie were doing, had they found his son? Or did something else happen? The automatic glass doors of the hospital opened and he walked in, lost in his own thoughts.

"Ah!" Gasped an older nurse at the front desk, "Yuki-chan, go upstairs and tell the officers that Kudo-san and his wife has returned!"

"Yes, Nakashima-san," the younger replied and hurried off.

Nakashima-san got out of the counter, "How are you, Kudo-san? The officers upstairs were worried!"

Shinichi looked at the speaker, but he could not see clearly, his visions seemed blurred, and he felt dizzy. He dropped Ran's legs and nearly knocked Ran onto the ground, seeing this, Nakashima-san hurried and supported Ran for him.

"Goodness, Kudo-san!" the nurse gasped, "You're hurt!" She cried, staring at Shinichi's blood-stained left sleeve.

He's hurt, was he? He might've been, he couldn't recall. He looked at Ran, who was in Nakashima-san's support, Ran was safe, he had got her back. His body lacking blood, and the bullet injury untreated for so long, he could no longer take it and fell forward onto the ground with a loud _thud!_ that echoed throughout the empty lobby.

***

_Wake up, Shinichi... wake up!! _Wake up!!" Someone was slapping at his face... and sitting on him. Shinichi, still feeling somewhat weak, opened his eyes. There was a blur at first, then everything came into focus as his eyes are met by huge, round sapphire ones, ones that resembled his own eyes as well as Ran's.

"Hiro-kun!" Shinichi exclaimed as he realized who was on him.

"Daddy!" Cried the little boy joyously. Tiny arms were outstretched as the boy's father sat up on his bed. Shinichi reached his own arms out and grabbed his son close to him.

"I'm sorry, Hiro-kun, were you scared?" Shinichi asked, looking at the healing bruise on his son's cheek.

Hiroichi snuggled against his father and shook his head, his hair tickling Shinichi through the thin, patients' clothes that he had been put on while he was unconscious. "I knew that you'd find me! And Shuichi-kun and Jodie-san were with me as well!"

Shinichi looked up to see two people leaning against the wall, one not too glad to be referred to with '-kun' by a five year-old, the other not too glad that she wasn't referred to with '-chan.' Nevertheless, they smiled at Shinichi, who smiled back at them appreciatively.

The doors opened and in came the Detective Boys and Heiji, who walked to the side of Shinichi's bed, "Finally woke up, huh? Had us worried there for a while," he grinned, and, out of habit, punched Shinichi in the shoulders.

"Aw, damn! Hattori! Dammit!" Shinichi shouted, teeth clenched as pain surged from his shoulder.

"Sorry," Heiji said, though he sure doesn't seem it with his trademarked sly grin.

Hiroichi, however, gasped, "Daddy!! You said a bad word!!" Shinichi opened his mouth and let out an inaudible 'Ah...,' while Heiji tried to hold back a laugh. "I'm going to tell mommy when she wakes up!" Hiroichi threatened playfully, but those words sent shock to Shinichi.

"M-Mommy's still asleep?" Shinichi asked, looking at Heiji, whose face was no longer mocking, but instead filled with sympathy. He motioned towards the bunk next to Shinichi, and Shinichi turned to find his wife, appearing still to be unconscious.

Holding his shoulder as he got up, Shinichi walked slowly towards his wife and stared at her peaceful face. What now? He had gotten Hiroichi back, that was what the Old Man said, wasn't it? To recover what is most important to us... and Ran is still unconscious. A strand of hair covered her face, and Shinichi brushed it away gently.

"Ran..." he said softly, unaware of the laughter that Heiji was trying to muffle behind his back. "Ran...." He said again.

!

Did Ran just give a snort? Shinichi examined her face for other signs of conscious, it seems like her lips are curling. Behind them, Heiji let out a snicker that he could no longer hold back. Shinichi turned around and raised an eyebrow at Heiji, who, upon seeing this, burst out laughing. Just when Shinichi was mixed in fury and confusing, a giggle of a familiar voice rose up behind him.

"Darn it, Heiji-kun! I was waiting to see what he's going to say!" Shinichi's face was filled with surprise and joy when he saw Ran sitting up on her bed, looking perfectly well. Other in the room joined in the laughter as well.

"So you all knew about this?" Shinichi asked.

"Of course!" Ayumi piped near the door, "Ran-neechan woke up a while after Akai-san and Jodie-sensei arrived!"

"And when she heard what had happened, we came up with this plan!" Kazuha giggled, carrying her sleeping daughter, "You know... to test just how romantic you are."

Everyone laughed again.

Shinichi sat down on the stool next to Ran's bed, "You're not mad, are you?" Ran asked, apparently still trying not to laugh.

Shinichi shook his head and smiled. There was no anger in his face, only relief. Ran's face turned into a loving smile as well, and laughter around the room died down. Noticing the change of atmosphere, the others looked at each other and nodded and, one after the other, left the room. Heiji walked up to Hiroichi, who was on his daddy's bed, picked him up and sat the young boy on his shoulders.

"C'mon, Hiro-kun. Heiji-niichan's gonna get you some ice cream, alright?" Heiji said and carried the boy out of the room, closing the door behind him while ignoring the boy's protests ("But I wanna stay with mommy and daddy!!").

Inside the room, the man and his wife embraced, once again enjoying each others' presence, their love burning brightly like the everlasting glimmering stars in the sky.

_Kimi ga doko ka de miteirunda to  
_Thinking that not matter where you're watching over me_  
Omoi nagara zutto ikite ikeruyo  
_This thought has kept me going_  
Itsumademo togirenu omoi  
_Forever, an everlasting love_  
Dokomade mo taenai omoi...  
_Everlasting, a love that never ceases

***

A few weeks later, Shinichi and Ran have left the hospital, but, in fear of being attacked again, they've decided to move to downtown Tokyo, along with Agasa Hakase, who was the most likely to become a hostage if their enemies were to act. Shinichi had asked Officer Megure to make up some story to tell the media, the main reason being them not wanting to drag anyone like Sonoko or the Detective Boys in danger by giving out their names.

After they had settled, Shuichi and Jodie contacted Shinichi on behalf of the FBI and made up plans to put a stop to Vermouth's actions. The Moriyama family were put on the Witness Protection Service so that they would feel safe after giving information on Vermouth's plans as them, like their deceased father, have also been threatened by Vermouth.

The plan worked. Vermouth probably had not expected her people to betray her, and during a movie premiere in Berlin, Chris Vinyard was arrested. Though, as Shuichi had told Shinichi, she wasn't frustrated, scared, or annoyed, instead, she had left when she was arrested. Shinichi had thought that her downfall had driven her crazy, but the true reason appeared two days after her arrest, on the headline of the newspaper:

"Family of ex-convict Moriyama Kousuke found dead with two dozen police officers."

Shinichi's face became stern after reading the article, apparently Vermouth had found ways to take revenge on the betrayers. How? No one had any idea, but it was certain that Vermouth's minions are still lurking in Japan, waiting, silently waiting for the chance to strike.

The fear of something happening again to their family stresses Ran everyday, unable to stand seeing his wife worry everyday, Shinichi, under the advice of Eri and Hakase, decided to drop his job and move the whole family to America, with Yusaku and Yukiko, starting a whole new life.

Little did they know that it is not over....

-end-

==============================================================================

Now, now, before you guys shout at me with reviews like "What kind of ending was that?!" Hear me out. After I had completed Always, two new ideas sprung up in my head, and I thought they were weird if done separately, so, after tweaking this plot and adding on that, I've came up with two sequels with "Always." In other words, this is going to be a trilogy. But don't get excited yet... because you probably won't get that new fic until the end of year, I think I'm going to finish, or at least add some new chapters to "Feelings." I'm also going to try and improve my writing over the summer.

Disclaimer: Meitantei Conan and its related characters, places, items, events, are copyrights of Gosho Aoyama-sensei and any other affiliated corporations. The song "Everlasting" was performed by the singer group B'z, and is copyright of its respective owner(s). "Gate of Heaven" is copyright of the band Do As Infinity and their affiliate(s).

And now for the thank you's: Thanks to those who have reviewed: ** lyt0xangelxstarz, Maggie, Ispreno, Bluegirl11375, starfruit-22, Dolphingal75, mysteriousangelgirl, unknown, sari, and Lynn.** Thanks for the boosts! Special thanks to **Jen** who personally e-mailed me! And thanks to anyone who read the fic, and didn't bother to review, and also thanks to those who just simply clicked on the story title and tried my fic. Alrighty, till next time then... Ja ne~!!

KudoEdogawa, April 30, 2004.


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